By Kristine Pearson | CEO
We think the best way to get a sense of how the Lifeplayer works in a preschool is to watch a video. We’ve created a short SoundStart video of the Lifeplayer in a Cape Town preschool, which we hope you will enjoy. You can click on it below.
The school featured is located in an industrial area and has security bars on the windows and doors. The parents of the children are immigrants from Zimbabwe, DR Congo, Malawi and Rwanda. They are day laborers, domestic workers, gardeners and small scale traders who now live in local townships. Parents drop their kids early before work and collect them at the end of the day. It’s difficult for teachers and caregivers to keep the energetic learners busy and stimulated all day. This is where the Lifeplayer comes into its own.
Pre-loaded on a memory card with locally produced music and songs in English from Wriggle and Rhyme, the teacher starts each day with a song. When the Lifeplayer was first introduced, the children could not speak English. Two months later, they had memorized a dozen songs in English! They also conversed with one another in English as it was their only common language. The teachers are also recording stories for the children to listen to while they take a break.
The school is part of GROW with Educare, a for-profit network of preschools which started in Cape Town and has now grown to Durban and Johannesburg. The schools charge parents a small amount each month to ensure the sustainability of the schools since, preschool does not fall under the government's Department of Basic Education.
Each GROW principal and teacher is comprehensively trained and provided with a “school in a box”. The box includes teachers’ guides, toys, educational materials, equipment, posters, books and a policies and procedures manual. Some receive a Lifeplayer as well. The principal also receives business training to ensure she can properly manage her school and its finances. We think it’s a great model which is sustainable, impactful and job creating.
We’re delighted that our Lifeplayers are growing with them.
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